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A local girl whom Jeanette finds attractive, and soon recruits to join her church. Melanie and Jeanette study the Bible together several times a week, and soon find themselves tumbling into a sexual relationship. Jeanette and Melanie question whether what they’re doing falls under the umbrella of “Unnatural Passion,” which they have been warned against in church, but decide that their love is so pure and makes both of them so happy that it can’t possibly be wrong. Eventually, the girls are found out, and are called before their congregation to be publicly shamed. Jeanette, who is more in love with Melanie than Melanie is with her, refuses to repent and admit she has sinned, but Melanie repents right away. Melanie, who is a bit older, is sent to live with relatives for a time, and then goes off to university. When she returns she tries to resume a friendship with Jeanette, but Jeanette—who was heavily punished and subjected to a kind of “exorcism” when she refused to repent for her affair with Melanie—is too traumatized to accept. Eventually, Melanie returns home one final time to announce she has gotten engaged to an Army man, and Jeanette is disappointed to see that Melanie has resigned herself to a relationship that has rendered her “serene to the point of being bovine.” Melanie represents themes of women and womanhood, transgression and forgiveness, and religion and control—she is one of the many women in Jeanette’s word who helps her to become who she is, though their relationship was ultimately fraught, tumultuous, and even traumatizing for Jeanette.
Melanie Quotes in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
The Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit quotes below are all either spoken by Melanie or refer to Melanie. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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4. Numbers
Quotes
We read the Bible as usual, and then told each other how glad we were that the Lord had brought us together. She stroked my head for a long time, and then we hugged and it felt like drowning. Then I was frightened but couldn’t stop. There was something crawling in my belly. I had an octopus inside me. After that we did everything together, and I stayed with her as often as I could. My mother seemed relieved that I was seeing less of Graham, and for a while made no mention of the amount of time I spend with Melanie.
“Do you think this is Unnatural Passion?” I asked [Melanie] once.
“Doesn’t feel like it. According to Pastor Finch, that’s awful.” She must be right, I thought.
Melanie and I had volunteered to set up the Harvest Festival Banquet, and we worked hard in the church throughout the day. When everyone arrived we stood on the balcony, looking down on them. Our family. It was safe.
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6. Joshua
Quotes
“The Lord forgives and forgets,” the pastor told me. Perhaps the Lord does, but my mother didn’t. While I lay shivering in the parlor she took a toothcomb to my room and found all the letters [from Melanie,] all the cards, all the jottings of my own, and burnt them in the backyard. There are different sorts of treachery, but betrayal is betrayal wherever you find it. She burnt a lot more than the letters that night in the backyard. I don’t think she knew. In her head she was still queen, but not my queen any more.
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Melanie Quotes in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
The Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit quotes below are all either spoken by Melanie or refer to Melanie. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
4. Numbers
Quotes
We read the Bible as usual, and then told each other how glad we were that the Lord had brought us together. She stroked my head for a long time, and then we hugged and it felt like drowning. Then I was frightened but couldn’t stop. There was something crawling in my belly. I had an octopus inside me. After that we did everything together, and I stayed with her as often as I could. My mother seemed relieved that I was seeing less of Graham, and for a while made no mention of the amount of time I spend with Melanie.
“Do you think this is Unnatural Passion?” I asked [Melanie] once.
“Doesn’t feel like it. According to Pastor Finch, that’s awful.” She must be right, I thought.
Melanie and I had volunteered to set up the Harvest Festival Banquet, and we worked hard in the church throughout the day. When everyone arrived we stood on the balcony, looking down on them. Our family. It was safe.
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Explanation and Analysis:
6. Joshua
Quotes
“The Lord forgives and forgets,” the pastor told me. Perhaps the Lord does, but my mother didn’t. While I lay shivering in the parlor she took a toothcomb to my room and found all the letters [from Melanie,] all the cards, all the jottings of my own, and burnt them in the backyard. There are different sorts of treachery, but betrayal is betrayal wherever you find it. She burnt a lot more than the letters that night in the backyard. I don’t think she knew. In her head she was still queen, but not my queen any more.
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